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Chapter 7: Have Mercy and Not Sacrifice

“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”

And remember, you can gain the whole world and lose yourself - as people are doing all over the world throughout time: gaining the world and losing themselves. Then one day they suddenly find that all they have gained is not theirs. Empty-handed they come; empty-handed they go. Nothing belongs to them. Then anguish takes over.

“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” The only way to be really intelligent in the world is first to gain yourself. Even if the whole world is to be lost, it is worth it. If you gain your own being, your own soul, your own innermost core, and the whole world is lost, it is worth it. To gain that innermost core you will not only have to lose the world. You will have to lose the idea of yourself - because that is the innermost barrier: the ego. The ego is a false identity. Not knowing who you are, you go on thinking that you are somebody. That somebody - the false identity - is the ego. And unless the false goes, the true cannot enter.

Let the false go and the true is ready. Repent, return, answer - the kingdom of God is at hand!